Pikachu Or Snorlax

I was supposed to keep this blog going. I failed at that and have let years pass without posting. Things have changed. Quick summary:

New additions to my family (2022 and 2024/2025). My niece was born in 2022, and will be three soon. She's an adorable ball of sunshine. I can't wait for my sister to move kinda closer to me with her family. I've added new members to my found family (the only family I recognize) recently, and now have a younger sister. She's very adorable and sorta reminds me of myself when I was her age a little bit.

New job, same old drama though (Oct 2022). I retired from the military back in Oct 2022. I have my retired orders and ID card. I have a new job and have been working for the past couple of years. My workplace is never boring as there is always drama of some sort.

Old family secrets from the closet (Dec 2024). I was going through my thick medical record when I noticed I have been diagnosed with ASD alongside CPTSD as an adult. I did not at that time have any information about my autism when I was younger, until now. I have recently acquired some medical documents that clearly show in detail about my autism. These documents are mostly from the first three years of life, and are sporadic. I have yet to acquire my full medical documentation. I suspect my "family" has tossed them out.

Genetic testing for health issues (2024). I used quite a bit of money for testing and having results examined for medical purposes. I already have one diagnosis for one autoimmune condition, but there is also quite a few other autoimmune conditions that will do more damage over time.

Dropped some interests due to finances (2023). I used to play often Japanese or Korean gacha mobile games. They were cute to play, but I often wrecked my finances to do so. I felt like I had to take a step back and stop playing them until I can get my finances in order better. I have abandoned all of them currently. I also don't watch anime as much as I used to.

I supported my sister during her wedding dress shopping at a very reasonable boutique. My sister was beaming in every dress that she tried on. She tried on 8-9 dresses before making a decision. She tried on Cinderella type ball gowns and mermaid train type dresses. All of them featuring beading in some form and lace. Only one dress had lace towards the bottom of the skirt and train. All of them were very pretty. It wasn't long after the dress shopping I was asked to be a witness since I wouldn't be able to get off in order to head to her wedding. I was very honored to be a witness and was able to go during my lunch break. She was wearing a dress and her husband was wearing a suit to the church. They are getting legally married beforehand. The paster married them in the church lobby. Two of my friend's close friends were also witnesses through Zoom and I was holding the phone while they were conducting the ceremony. I tried a lot of tears, watching two beautiful souls getting married. It was a beautiful experience. They were also trying to not cry themselves during the ceremony. Right after, my sister started crying. It was all happy tears. Only about a week and a half after they were married, I received a phone call from my sister at work. She told me that I would become an auntie and that she was preparing to live overseas with her husband. I started to spend more time with her before she left, just chilling at her place. Her husband was leaving before her very soon.

Having our usual hours didn't last long. At that time, it felt like a breather. However, I felt like a tornado was around the corner. Around the first part of June, our management had a meeting, which resulted in us having permament extended hours. Also, on top of that, management also forced us to move everything. My coworkers would have multiple days out of the week dedicated to moving. I would help however I could, but for the most part I would be in an empty office, working. Also, there would be times when my coworkers would be asked to move heavy items in the middle of the day, disrupting their work. Then there was pressure from our management to maintain the same work quality (which was impossible, given how many times we had moving requests). The customers would complain all day long and were not understanding of our situation, just wanted us to wave a magic wand and fix their issues. There were times when I would have to leave later than everyone else due to my body not coorporating with me, partly due to all the stress. Back in March, I purchased a cane/mobility aid as I went to WalMart once and my body completely gave out. I became fortunate that I didn't need assistance to finish shopping, however there were three women who talked about me while I was there. I realized that there is a pretty good chance of this happening again, and I won't have anyone to help me. There were times when I felt like I needed my cane to make it to my car after work, so it's always in the backseat of my car.

April really started to wear me down. Our entire team is starting to move buildings, and around the same time frame, I have to move apartments. This isn't really good with my condition but I do the best that I can. One of my department managers can sortof relate to my Fibro, as they have a host of chronic pain as well. I have also been trying to move more items to my storage, which is exhausting and causes issues at work. In April a customer took a complaint to management, so our work hours were extended. I am physically and mentally stressed. I am not proud of sleeping at work, however my brain fog and tiredness haven't been helping. I called my parental unit for asking for advice, reaching my breaking point multiple times over the last two months. I also was staying much later working past our extended hours. I tried to talk to our supervisors and management, but their hands were tied. My current workload doesn't support me teleworking and I would like to be able to do so. This has also carried over into the early part of May.

The workload for the rest of November was a bit of an up and down situation. With my job getting Thanksgiving off (Wednesday through Sunday), it was quite relaxing. When we got into December, my colleagues were taking more time off, but there wasn't a ton of pressure from our leadership in regards to work deadlines. I met up with my parental unit during Xmas, but only for a couple of hours. I would have preferred the whole day but I take what I can get. I didn't really do anything for New Years, as some of my friends' jobs relocated them to another location. Some of my friends left their current jobs and went home earlier in the year, so I was alone.

January and February went by pretty quickly. Our job received a new person, who immediately was loaned out to another agency temporarily after arriving here. We also have two new hires as well. We don't see them everyday and they don't work in the same department as the rest of my coworkers. They will sometimes come to our fitness program. One of my supervisors ended up leaving due to a family emergency and we don't know if they will return.

Nothing much has been happening over these past few days. I’ve been able to grocery shop when I need to. I’m trying to not spend so much money and rebuild my savings. I’m actually able to do more laundry than I usually do. Work is a usual daily grind. Listen to people complain about their problems. Fix them if we can. 

Work is also about to get easier. If everything goes well, I could end up working from home for a while. My coworkers and I have been working out together every Monday. I am trying to be careful so I won’t flare up afterwards. The first time we worked out, I flare up for two days. Last Monday, I had a slight flare, but my knee popped and locked once, enough for me to nearly call an ambulance. Thankfully, didn’t need to.

My back continues to spasm at night. I’ve gotten used to it. My shoulders are giving me a break from near dislocating themselves at night (I’m lucid when it happens, so I don’t feel pain). I do feel the burn instead.

I’m starting to write again. I’ve been working at it very slowly, but all the concepts I have are starting to come together. 

Of course, all this is going to come at a cost.

Another day of the daily draining grind. Answered more phone calls. Found out one coworker is on vacation. I’m glad they are away from all this hecticness, but a heads up would have been nice to the rest of us, who have to answer the phones. Found out we are receiving more coworkers. I hope they will be great assets for our team, and ease some of our stresses. 

I went grocery shopping until the next payday. There was a bit of a deal on dairy free yogurt (3/$4, 2/$3, and 10/$10) on different brands. I only bought a handful, but if Kroger still has the deal, I’ll get more. I also stacked up on my favorite Indian/Indian inspired dishes (frozen). Masala is one of my favorite spices, and is used in plenty of dishes that I call all comfort food. This can also include Thai curry and Caribbean curry. I also got some chai for my office, so I can have it whenever.

Work was pretty busy. Half of our office answers phones, and this week was my halves’ week. For a few weeks now, our office has been split, but my side has taken the MOST calls (#annoying). I’m not a “people person” and I can’t get important things done while I’m on the phone. 

Our coworkers has a fitness program. I dropped my mask outside of work on my way to the gym (did not know). Nearly had a panic attack as I didn’t know if I needed a mask or not to the track where everyone was. Didn’t need one, and no one cared that I showed up late (showed up to the gym on time, but did thoroughly check my car, so was late). While everyone else ran, I walked 4 laps around the track, while listening to music (the new Mulan soundtrack*). We had cool down stretches, and one in particular messed up my knee big time. 

After going home, I took a shower. I went out to eat at Olive Garden with the intention of grocery shopping for the next two weeks. Spoiler alert: didn’t happen! I do recommend the new toasted ravioli. 

Worked early in the morning (8-11). Nothing really happened after that. Pretty chill Halloween.

I also didn’t do anything for Samhain, however, I do have until November 2. I did read The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (2/3 of the way through). 

Had an early start to my day. I’m very much a grouch in the mornings. I was one of many presenters. The meeting took half of my day. Not bad, but I sounded like a broken record, even messing up occasionally. Had a lot of people in four different waves. preferred they all just showed up at one time, but oh well.

I was happy when it was finished and we all could get lunch. We hasn’t eaten all morning. If there was enough time inbetween the waves, we could have eaten earlier.

Went to Dunkin Donuts to get my nightly chai (vanilla spice (new)). Tonight, it was on the house. I was not expecting that. Thank y’all so much!!! Y’all rock! Also, I noticed the new lights the maintenance guys put in do work. I wonder if they are solar lights, and if they need a full days charge to work. 

I work in at a customer service job, dealing with people’s finances. One of my pet peeves is people skipping the line to try to talk to me. Nah, I don’t play that. Please head to the back of the line, Sharon. No need for disorder.